Frozen pitches lead to 20 EFL and National League postponements

Salford's Peninsula Stadium, as seen through a gateGetty Images

Salford City's home game with Colchester on Friday was the weekend's first casualty

Three more English Football League fixtures have been postponed because of frozen pitches.

Oxford United v Northampton in League One was called off despite covers having been in place overnight.

And Stevenage v Barnsley was postponed following a second inspection at 13:00, but games at Exeter and Peterborough were given the all-clear.

Matches at Notts County, Walsall and Harrogate joined the list of League Two postponements on Saturday morning.

"Following persistently cold temperatures, which have fallen as low as -7C in Nottingham this week, the Meadow Lane playing surface is heavily frozen despite frost covers and heat lamps being used, as well as ground staff working through the night," said a Notts County statement.

"As the frost is well established and the sun cannot reach all areas of the playing surface, the referee had little confidence that temperatures would improve conditions sufficiently for the match to safely go ahead."

Eight matches were also called off in the National League, with Southend's home match against Altrincham, Eastleigh v Oldham and York City v AFC Fylde among those joining the three postponed on Friday.

"Whilst our ground staff have worked tirelessly to get the pitch in to a condition that we believe is playable, disappointingly, following a pitch inspection this morning our game against Altrincham has been called off by a local referee," a Southend statement said.

Mansfield v Sutton has been rearranged for Tuesday, 23 January, while new dates for the other games are yet to be decided.

Covers had been on Mansfield's One Call Stadium pitch for the past 10 days but, while they said industrial hot-air blowers were also used to thaw the pitch, it was not enough to deal with conditions that dropped to -7C in the Nottinghamshire town.

This weekend's postponements

League One

Cheltenham v Carlisle

Oxford United v Northampton

Port Vale v Wycombe

Stevenage v Barnsley

League Two

AFC Wimbledon v Crawley

Bradford v Doncaster

Harrogate v Grimsby

Mansfield v Sutton

Notts County v Stockport

Salford v Colchester

Swindon v Tranmere

Walsall v Accrington

National League

Barnet v Chesterfield

Eastleigh v Oldham

Halifax v Maidenhead

Rochdale v Wealdstone

Solihull Moors v Dagenham

Southend v Altrincham

Woking v Oxford City

York v AFC Fylde

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